Our Curriculum

Read Write Inc - Our Phonics Scheme

The government strongly recommend the use of synthetic phonics when teaching early literacy skills to children. Synthetic phonics is simply the ability to convert a letter or letter group into sounds that are then blended together into a word.

Here at the St Josephs Catholic Primary School, we are using the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their literacy. RWI is a method of learning based upon letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading and writing.

Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who can read more challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns, the more he or she will want to find out.

Using RWI, the children learn to read effortlessly so they can put all their energy into comprehending what they read. It also allows them to spell effortlessly so they can put all their energy into composing what they write.

The children are assessed regularly and grouped according to their ability. They will work with a RWI trained teacher or teaching assistant. In addition to the RWI, children will also be working on writing skills in their classes with their own teacher.

The Read Write Inc Manager at the St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is Mrs Dawes. If you have any questions or need any guidance on the programme, please pop into the school office or give them a call and they will arrange an appointment for you.

Language and Literacy

Children in Year 2 through to Year 6 follow the interesting and challenging Literacy and Language programme.

Developed by Ruth Miskin, Literacy and Language provides the perfect next steps for our children when they successfully complete the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme, which itself has been designed to ensure that the children in Reception and Year 1 have the very best beginning to their journeys towards becoming confident, creative and enthusiastic readers and writers.

Each Literacy and Language unit of work is comprised of a fiction and a non-fiction aspect, meaning the children have many exciting opportunities to practise and develop their reading, writing and spoken language for a range of meaningful purposes and audiences.

In accordance with the 2014 National Curriculum, the rigorous teaching of grammar, punctuation and spelling is embedded within each unit of work to ensure that the children recognise the importance of striving for accuracy when they read, write and speak whilst retaining the creative flair that is required to engage their audiences.

The skills gained during Literacy lessons are further promoted throughout the school day with our talented teachers recognising every opportunity to enhance the children's reading, writing and spoken language in all subjects across the curriculum.

Mathematics

At St Joseph’s we are now following the White Rose Hub mastery scheme of work.

What is a mastery curriculum?

Mastering maths means acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. At any one point in a pupil’s journey through school, achieving mastery is taken to mean acquiring a solid enough understanding of the maths that’s been taught to enable him/her move on to more advanced material. NCETM

The current National curriculum says:

‘The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.p3

It is important that children gain a deep understanding of the content taught for that year so that they can sustain the knowledge and skills that they have been taught.

Children should be able to reason mathematically and solve increasingly complex problems doing so with fluency.

Every lesson should cover these 3 basic principles:

Fluency

The ability through varied and frequent practice to recall and apply knowledge rapidly. eg times tables, number bonds

Reasoning

To follow a line of enquiry looking at patterns and relationships and being able to explain and justify their thinking. eg. I think that 38 is a multiple of 83 True/False

Problem solving

To be able to apply maths in a variety of problems breaking them down into smaller steps. Simon buys two pencils that cost 45p each. He has £1. How much change will he have?

CPA-Concrete, Pictoral, Abstract

In lessons all children will use concrete resources (place value counters, cubes, number lines etc)

They will be taught how to record maths in a variety of ways eg. on a place value chart, as a part, part whole diagram or as a bar model

This will then lead to the abstract form:

23

+42

____

____

RE Curriculum

Our school follows the curriculum strategy – Learning and Growing as the People of God - provided by the Archdiocese of Birmingham for teaching RE in a Catholic primary school